Scale.



PATENTED JULY 3, 1906.

W. H. SANDERSON. v

SCALE. APBLIOATION FILED SPT.17,1903. RENEWED JAN. 22, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

lauuanfoz PATENTED JULY 3, 1906.

w. H. SANDERSON'. 4

SCALE. APPLIOATION FILED BEPT.17,1903. RENEWED JAN. 22, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. SANDERSON, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE COMPUTING SCALE COMPANY, OF DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPO- RATION OF OHIO.

SCALE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Pat ented J'uly s, 1906.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. SANDER- SON, of Dayton, in the county of Montgomery, State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Scales; and I do hereby declare the followin to be a full, clear, and exact description of t e same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to improvements in weighing-scales of the platform typethat is to say, scales whereln a base-housing is employed for the reception of the platformlevers and supports with a connection extending into said base and thence up to a suitable beam or counterbalancing mechanism located above the level of the base and usually supported by standards attached to the base. To attain the highest degree of accuracy in scales of this character, particularly where the connection of the levers with the beam or counterbalancing mechanism is short or the levers themselves are short, the beams and levers should be as rigidly held in position as ossible contingent u on the necessary free om of action, for it s ould be understood that all the connections must be perfectly free and flexible, inasmuch as bindmg or friction due totransverse strains will immediately affect the accuracy of the scale.

The present invention has for its objectto rovide a construction wherein the platformevers will be so supported that the connection with the beam or counterbalancing mechanism shall travel in a fixed definite path and-at the same time the platform itself e so supported that the connections with the levers and between the levers themselves will permit of a perfect flexibility and freedom of movement under all conditions or stresses set up by the load placed on the platform, and that without the employment of the usual check hooks or wires, which as heretofore employed introduced an element of uncertainty or liability of inaccuracy due to their restraining action upon the movements of the platform or its supports.

The invention further conslsts in certain novel details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, all as will be now described, and pointed out particularly in the appended claims.

v Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a transverse section through the base or housing of a platform-scale, showing the levers, platform-Sp porting mechanism, and connection with tlie beam or counterbalancing mechanism in elevation. Fig. 2 is a top plan view. of the same with the platform removed. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional elevation through one of the platform-supports, the section being taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1, but with the platform-lever and knife-edge bearing omitted. Fig. 4 is a detail pers ective vlew of the lower portion of one of t e platform-supports shown in section in Fig. 3.

Like letters of reference in the severalfigures indicate the same parts. 4

The base or housing (indicated by the letter A inthe accompanyin drawings) is shown of conventional rectangu ar form, and it will be understood that it may be of any of the usual or preferred types now in common-use for platform counter-scales, the said houslng bemg provided at one end with the usual means whereby standards B (the bases onl of which are shown) may be attached an with an opening B for the passage of the draft connections or connections C extending up to the beam or counterbalancing mechanism, which may be of any preferred type, but is prpferably of that type wherein there is a s ting connection between the draftconnections and the beam in order that the leverage of- 0 engages, the said frame Cbeing thus free tov swin on said bearin s e in one plane only...

At t e opposite en the said lever E is widened or extended transversely to form arms E the latter being rovided with knifeedges e which rest in a ed fixed bearings F. 1 The bearings F, before referred to, are rigidly supported by brackets F, secured in place on the base or'housing A by screws f,

e, with which the although it be understood that any other well-known or preferred means for supporting these bearings maybe employed, provided that they aresupported rigidly, so as to prevent transverse movement of the lever in any direction and so as to confine the draft connection to a fixed definite path.

The knife-edges e and e on the lever E should be in a substantially horizontal lane in order that the path traversed by the earings e in the-operation of the scale shall. be curved to the slightest possible extent, or, in other words, that the draft connection C should be caused to travel as nearly as possible in a true vertical plane, In practice thelever E is a long lever moving through a very limited arc, and as a consequence the draft connection is for practical purposes given a movement in a vertical plane, althou h theoretically it does travel in a veryslig t are, which arc, however, isso slight as to be negligible in its effect upon the operation of the scale.

The other one ofthe two platform-levers employed is lettered G, and at one end it is connected centrally with the platform-lever E by knife-edges g and a link 9, as is usual-in this class of scales. At its opposite end this platform-lever G is pivotally supported in swinging or flexible bearings ormed by knife-edges H andvlinks H suspended fromloops H on the base or housing A. Thus it i i. e.,- that one of the levers which-is not di-.

, K, the lower portions of.

will be noted that the platform-levers are supported at four points. widely separated, and the necessary freedom of movement or looseness to permit of the platform-levers swinging in opposite arcs is permitted by the swingingpivotal bearings of one of the leversrectly connected with the draft connection C. Theplatform-levers E and G are provided with knife-edges I I, respectively, located in proper proximity .to their pivotal supports,

and the platform is mounted on these knife edge bearings, the connections with the plat-v form being such that the platform and its attached parts may be readily'lifted off of the knife-edges and when assembled gravitate to their proper positions and will always tend to return to such osition when moved transversely by the app 'cation of the load or otherwise, thus obv ating the neces sity of employing check wires or hooks, as heretofore. c The platform D, before referred to, is directly su ported on a spider or skeleton frame K aving depending sup orts or legs which are bifurcated, forming branches K the bifurcated portions being preferably detachable from the legs K and secured in place by screws k. Thus the legs K may be made of a proper length and the bifurcatedportions, with their attachments, to be hereinafter described, made uniform and assembled-separately therefrom and subsequently attached to the legs K in assembling the scale. The branches K of the legs are each provided at the bottom with detachable hook-shaped brackets L, secured in place by screws 1, the brackets on each pair of branches extending toward each other, but leaving asufficient space between their proximate ends for-the passage of the knife-ed es I I. Embracing each of the hook-shape brackets L is a link of each pair of branc es there is mounted a saddle-bearing N, which rests on the knifeedge bearings I Iand supports the skeleton and platformfproper. The saddle-bearings N and hook-brackets'L are-provided with rounded bearing-surfaces with which the links engage, and the extremities of these parts are so formed with heads O-and projections O that when'assembled. their completeldisengagement is prevented,andconsequently the skeleton frame, together with the links, saddle-bearings, &c., may be lifted upoff of the platform-levers, giving'access to all of. the" .parts within the base, and when the parts are to be again assembled it maybedone by simply returning' the skeleton to its place,'w-.hen the bearings will find their roper seats without further-attention on t e part of the. as sembler.

the Iplreferred construction the saddlebearings are elongated. lengthwise of the knife-edges, asshown in Fig. 3, and because of. the construction before: described there will be a uniform bearing throughout the length of the knife-edge at all times,.fand, furtheimore, by so forming the saddle-bearings N they Wlll prevent displacementlongitudi- .nally of the knife-edges by contacting with the platform-levers.

It will be noted that the latform and its supports are rigid to apoint. elow the knifeedges on the levers. In ,efiect, i t is swung below' said knife-edges andwillalways gravi tate. to its roper and normal position-with respect to t e lever and base A, and as a consequence .no check-wires or hooks need. sbe

employed. All variations in thadistance between the knife-edges are compensated for-by the swingingand oose connections, andat the same time the main-platformeleverto ,which the draft connection :is -,,jointed is mounted in fixed bearings and said draft con- .I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

a,- platfo'rm-scale, the combination with the base-housing andplatform, of:a.

platform-lever pivotally mounted .at one end in fixed bearings in alinement in the base nectionf is causedto travel-in-aflfixedfand 7 5 M, and between the upper ends of the links M i housing, a draft connection for the counterbalancing mechanism pivotall connected with the opposite end of the lever at two points, a second platform --lever pivotally mounted in swinging bearings in the basehousing and loosely connected with the firstmentioned latform-lever intermediate the supportingearin s for the levers,outwardlyro ecting paralle knifeedge bearings on both levers also intermediate the lever-supporting bearings, a rigid platform-support located above the levers and having bifurcated portions one at each corner extending below the knife-edge bearings, saddle-bearings resting on the knife-edges and links connecting the saddle-bearings and portions of the bifurcated platform-supports below the knife-edge bearings; substantially as described.

2. In a platform-scale, the combination with the latforrn-levers having knife-edge bearings or the platform, of the platformsupports having detachable bifurcated ends extending down beside the knife-ed e bearings, detachable brackets on said bi rcated portions projecting toward each other, saddle-bearings resting on the knife-ed es and links connecting the ends of the sa'dd ebear-. ings and brackets, said links resting in rounded bearings and the parts being so proportioned that the saddle-bearings, links and supports will remain connected when removed from the scale; substantially as described.

.WILLIAM H. SANDERSON.

Witnesses GEO. W. KEPLER, E. A. SMITH. 

